Sources close to negotiations today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the Bellator middleweight champion has received permission to take a fight against “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ veteran Jesse Taylor (19-6) late this summer.

The bout is targeted for an Australian Fighting Championship event expected for Aug. 27, likely in Melbourne, Australia. The promotion’s broadcast plans are unknown at this time.

Lombard most recently was seen in the cage this past month at Bellator 44, where he knocked out Falaniko Vitale in a non-title bout. The two got off to a very slow start while circling each other for two rounds without much offense. Lombard, though, eventually landed a crushing right hand.

The Cuban native has defended his Bellator belt once with a decision victory over Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 34. He also holds the middleweight title in the Australia-based Cage Fighting Championship and has defended it seven times during an unbeaten streak that’s stretched nearly four years.

An emigrant to Australia from his native country, Lombard, a former Olympian in Judo, spends the bulk of his time in Coconut Creek, Fla., where he moved several years ago to train with American Top Team.

Taylor, meanwhile, enjoys a five-fight win streak that includes a win under the AFC banner. He most recently dispatched UFC and PRIDE vet Denis Kang at “Battlefield Fight League 8: Island Beatdown” this past month and defeated former UFC middleweight champ Murilo Bustamante 11 months before at “Impact FC 2: The Uprising 2.”

Since his release from the UFC in 2008, Taylor has gone 13-3 while shuffling between welterweight, middleweight and even light heavyweight.